Teen, 14, 'targeted as recruit' for Parramatta police shooting

The alleged terrorists behind the murder of NSW police accountant Curtis Cheng reportedly first tried to recruit a 14-year-old boy before settling on 15-year-old Farhad Jabar as the gunman.

The ABC's Four Corners program claimed police revealed one member of the terrorist group told another that because they were under such close surveillance, they needed a "jahil" - Arabic for an ignorant person - to "kill a kaffir".

Police suspect they were referring to a child.

The program said it understood members of the group had first tried to recruit a 14-year-old boy, before settling on Jabar.

Farhad Jabar was reportedly not the terrorist groups first choice recruit. (Supplied) ()

The 14-year-old was recently convicted of firearms offences.

Jabar shot Mr Cheng, 58, in cold blood outside the NSW Police Parramatta headquarters on October 2 before he was himself shot dead.

The ABC said Jabar, a year 10 student at the Arthur Phillip High School in Parramatta, had been recruited by members of a particular group identified by police in the long-running Operation Appleby investigation.